RFF on the Issues: Drilling in the Arctic

Jun 16, 2016|
Shannon Wulf Tregar

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This week, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) introduced a nonbinding resolution as a “gentle reminder to the Obama administration” to open the Arctic for drilling. He noted that not doing so “would not have the slightest effect on global warming.”

In a recent issue of Resources magazine, David J. Hayes of the Stanford Law School and the Center for American Progress notes that the concern is to “find the right balance between promoting new economic opportunities and honoring Alaska’s deeply rooted conservation- and subsistence-based culture and values.” He recommends an integrated Arctic management approach that would “allow a broader view of how key decisions are made in the Arctic by soliciting input from residents, governmental officials, and other interested parties. And it would pull together relevant science so that good decisions can be made against a backdrop of a broader understanding of the area’s needs and sensitivities.”

RFF on the Issues connects today’s pressing news with related research and expertise at RFF.

One of the indicators the World Bank uses to measure the sustainability of a country’s growth is adjusted net savings (ANS), which includes an estimate of the costs of health damages from exposure to outdoor air pollution. This pollution damage indicator is published annually in the World Development Indicators, together with estimates of annual average PM10 (particulate matter less than 10 microns in diameter) in cities of 100,000 or more.